


Stained

by hazelevesques



Category: RuPaul's Drag Race RPF
Genre: Angst, F/F, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-03-16 13:44:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13637448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hazelevesques/pseuds/hazelevesques
Summary: Katya Zamolodchikova finds herself working at a winery in Napa Valley, at the on-site dog kennel.  Her roommate is Jinkx Monsoon, who inherited the small winery a few years ago.  Katya lives a simple life-- on her days off, she stays in the basement of their house and drinks rich Cabernet until bedtime, and on her days on she throws all her energy into the dogs.  When Trixie Mattel, winery manager, comes into her life, she finds herself in a tailspin.





	Stained

**Author's Note:**

> Look at me, in the middle of one Trixya fix and I can't help but start a new one. Enjoy the slow burn y'all... Comments are life. My first chapter is nearly always my shortest, so I promise there is more where this came from if you like the concept!
> 
> Xx, S.

As the drop of deep, purple-red stain spread across her crisp, white bedspread Katya stared, transfixed.  Her finger tips drummed absent mindedly against her glass.  This was why she normally didn’t drink in bed.  The stain would set if she wasn’t quick enough about cleaning it up.  With a sense of resolve, she set her glass of cabernet on her bedside table.  Katya focused herself, and set about the stain treating process.  Even as she sprayed the stain, she was certain that it was too late.  Within minutes, gave up and began to strip the comforter off the bed, piling it in the corner of her room.  Why she had ever decided to go with a white bedspread was anybody’s guess. 

            Before she knew it, Katya found her hand once again picking up her bottle of cabernet and topping off her wineglass.  The liquid sloshed around the bowl of the glass, transfixing her once again.  She brought it to her lips, enjoying each drop as it went across her tongue and down her throat.  Living in Napa Valley, and working for a winery, was bad news for her.  She had access to wine at a reduced cost at any time she needed or wanted.  Thankfully, she didn’t have much reason to drink while she worked.  For three years she had been employed at the dog kennel on the far side of the winery property.  Every day, she nearly exclusively interacted with the dogs that wealthy tourists checked in while they spent their days going from winery to winery to spa to restaurant. She very rarely engaged with their owners.  Her work made her happy.

 The doorbell rang, again—it was what had made her jump and spill wine across her bedspread in the first place—and Katya got up to see who was at the door.  She climbed the twelve steps that went from her room in the basement up to the main floor of the house and listened at the doorway intently.  Her roommate, Jinkx, answered the front door cheerfully. “Sorry I missed you the first time!  I was just getting some numbers filed away for our meeting.  It didn’t even occur to me that you rang the bell!”

            “Oh, honey!” Katya cringed as the loud voice filled the entryway.  “You’re totally fine!” The houseguest’s loud laugh echoed through the otherwise quiet house.  She had been living here for four months, and she still wasn’t used to Trixie Mattel’s regular visits.  When Jinkx had come into ownership of the independent winery they had no clue what they were doing.  Their background with accounting helped them keep the place afloat, but as far as management went, they were at a loss.  A lot of the people drawn to Napa didn’t fully understand their slightly off-kilter personality.  In response, Jinkx had hired Trixie to run the place, and admittedly she was doing a great job.  She was outgoing and friendly, and enjoyed getting to interact with new people every day.  Although the kennel was on the property of the winery, it wasn’t until after Katya had moved in to Jinkx’s place that they had actually met. 

            More wine passed between Katya’s lips as she eavesdropped.  The meeting was unlikely to be interesting—as Jinkx had mentioned, it had largely to do with the accounting side of the winery—but Katya could hardly help herself.  As much as she found herself annoyed by the tall blonde with big hair, there was something about her that drew her in.  Trixie was a complete mystery to her—they had never had a one on one conversation, including the first time they were introduced.  This left Katya to her own devices; left her mind wandering about what kind of person Trixie was when she wasn’t talking business with Jinkx or making connections with their guests.  Was she from Napa?  Did she have family here?  What did she like to do when she wasn’t working?  Did she have a lot of friends here?  Did she have a boyfriend here?  Or a girlfriend?

            Oftentimes Katya had to force herself to stop the otherwise never-ending cycle of thoughts.  It wasn’t just Trixie that made her like that—it was just about everything.  Her brain ‘stuck’ sometimes, as she called it.  Wine helped make things softer.  When the anxiety got to be too much, she poured herself a healthy glass (or four) of cabernet and settled onto the couch with a blanket and a movie.  This came with its own set of anxieties, of course.  Although Jinkx insisted she was never bothered by Katya’s late-night movies, she always switched from the TV to her laptop with headphones at 11:30 each night.  She wouldn’t ever want the home owner to be annoyed with her and decide she wasn’t allowed to rent there anymore. 

            It was in the midst of standing there at the top step to the main floor, edging into another cycle of thoughts about Trixie, that Katya heard her own name being said.  Her focused snapped, and she strained to listen again.  As the footsteps grew nearer, she acknowledged that they were soft—barefoot—and not the hard clicks that would come from the manager’s heels.  She was always wearing heels.  Jinkx was coming her way.  Had it been anybody else, Katya would have surely scrambled back down the stairs to settle on her couch and feign aloofness, but instead she stood dumbly on the step, waiting. 

            There were three gentle knocks on the door before Jinkx turned the handle.  “Hey, sweetie… Oh!”  They were clearly surprised to see Katya standing on the other side of the door, glass in hand.

            “Sorry, I—did I hear my name?”  She offered it as an explanation, although it really wasn’t one. 

            Jinkx jerked her head over her shoulder, towards the living room.  “Would you mind coming and sitting with us for a minute?” 

            Katya’s fingers drummed once again against the wineglass, and she nodded.  “Is everything okay?”

            Her roommate nodded and smiled widely, reassuring her.  Katya followed her to the living room.  On one side of the coffee table sat Trixie Mattel.  Her blonde hair fell in waves around her face, a cream bow clipped to one side.  Her eye makeup made her blue eyes pop, and Katya looked at the ground to avoid making eye contact.  Slowly, she looked up to take in what the other woman was wearing.  High heels, of course, as she had expected, were pink and tall and contrasted against her tan legs.  The skirt of her dress would have certainly been at her knees if she had been standing, but instead it rode up, showing a few inches of skin.  The dress was hot pink, with a light pink heart-shaped pattern all over.  It was cinched at her waist with a wide white patent-leather belt. 

            “Katya!” the younger woman exclaimed, sending her a bit of a shock.  “Thank you for coming up to meet me!”

            In response, Katya nodded shyly, at a loss for words.  Whatever this meeting was about was confusing enough; she certainly didn’t expect to be greeted with such enthusiasm.  For a moment she considered that she was being fired from the kennel, but it wasn’t Trixie who would do that, surely.  And her performance had been great—she was damn good at her job.  Unsure of what else to do, she sat on the couch across from Trixie. 

            If there was any awkwardness between them, the winery manager didn’t show it.  She smiled brightly in Katya’s direction—and if she wasn’t mistaken there was a glimmer of excitement in her eyes.  She brought the glass of wine to her lips and was met with disappointment.  The glass was empty.  As if she could read minds (or, more realistically, like she was just used to serving drunks) Trixie reached forward with a bottle of their signature cabernet.  Katya met her halfway, extending her glass out to be filled. 

            “Can’t let that run out, now, can we honey?” Trixie winked at her. 

            As much as she hated to admit it, Katya found herself flustered by the gesture.  As a response, she raised the glass to her lips and drank.  She realized than that she had yet to actually speak to the other woman.  She felt retarded.  “Thank you,” she muttered.

            Trixie looked at her quizzically.  “What was that?”

            “Thank you,” she repeated.  “I—"

            Graciously, it was Jinkx that interrupted her.  “So, Katya.  Trixie wanted to speak with you about an opportunity with the Doggy Daycare!”

            Katya hated when people called it that.  She nodded, silent once again.

            “You may have already heard something,” Trixie began, “but Martha is retiring at the end of this month.”

            The surprise must have registered on Katya’s face because Trixie’s eyes widened in response.  Martha couldn’t retire.  She had ran the kennel for over twenty years.  She personally trained everybody else who was employed there, she coordinated with the busy schedules of dog owners, she maintained the relationship the kennel had with the winery and came up with all of the marketing ideas.  Katya couldn’t imagine anybody stepping in, able to take her place.

            “We would appreciate your discretion until Martha makes her decision public,” Jinkx explained tactfully.  “A few months ago, she brought this to our attention—she’s elected to spend more time with her grandchildren in Washington, and we’re finally prepared to move forward.”

            Trixie laughed loudly then, confusing Katya.  “You’re wondering why we’re talking to you about this?”  It sounded like a question, incredulous.  Katya nodded again.  She felt dumb, bobbing her head like that over and over again.  “Well, when it comes to a replacement, I think you’re the obvious choice! 

            Both of Jinkx and Trixie’s words flooded over her then, and she struggled to comprehend the situation.  They wanted her to take over the kennel.  Marth was leaving.  Martha was leaving, and they wanted her to take over the kennel.  When she was able to fight past the fog in her brain, she registered what Jinkx was saying. 

            “You’ve been there for years—you know the policy.  Katya, you’re obviously the best fit for the job.”

            Finally, Katya found words.  “Jinkx, I know we’re close but I’m sure Trixie has somebody in mind that would do much better than I would.”

            Trixie laughed that loud laugh again, sending Katya reeling.  Jinkx put a gentle hand on her knee and spoke.  “It was Trixie that brought your name into the conversation, sweetie.  And I couldn’t agree more.  Please, say yes.”

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for the use of the r-word. I want to designate it's not something I as an author would use, but it does fit into this version of Katya (in age and in personality). Thank you!


End file.
